Most Costco shoppers have experienced that familiar ritual: pushing a heavy cart toward the exit doors, only to be greeted by a friendly employee with a highlighter marker ready to inspect your receipt. You might think they’re just hunting for potential shoplifters, but the reality is surprisingly different. This practice has been around since Costco’s first warehouse opened in Seattle back in 1983, and it serves multiple purposes that go far beyond catching thieves.
Customer Protection, Not Suspicion
The primary reason for Costco’s receipt checks might shock you: it’s to make sure that Costco isn’t picking the pockets of its customers. According to current and former employees, the retailer is actually examining receipts to make sure a shopper hasn’t been overcharged for their Costco purchases. Think about it this way – when you’re buying three giant bundles of toilet paper, there’s always a chance the cashier accidentally scanned four.
The company officially states that they do this to double-check that the items purchased have been correctly processed by our cashiers. Unlike what many customers assume, they’re not in loss prevention, and the measure isn’t intended to deter thieves. If you do have something in your cart you didn’t pay for, their immediate assumption is that the mistake is almost certainly the result of a cashier not scanning the item.
Inventory Control and Accuracy
Costco describes their receipt checking as their most effective method of maintaining accuracy in inventory control, and it’s also a good way to ensure that their members have been charged properly for their purchases. This system helps catch common scanning errors like missed items at the bottom of the cart or accidentally scanning something twice.
One San Francisco store manager put it simply: We want to make sure they’re not getting overcharged and they’re not getting undercharged. It’s not to target shoplifters. The process serves as a quality control checkpoint, ensuring the shopping experience ends on a positive note rather than with customers discovering billing errors at home.
Legal Authority Through Membership Agreement
Within the paperwork that customers sign when purchasing their membership, Costco includes a clause that mandates compliance with their receipt-checking policy. This legal foundation sets Costco apart from non-membership retailers like Walmart or Target. To ensure that all members are correctly charged for the merchandise purchased, all receipts and merchandise will be inspected as you leave the warehouse.
This contractual obligation means while there’s no legal requirement that you must show your receipt upon exiting a store, at membership-based chains like Costco, there’s a possibility that your membership will be canceled if you fail to follow the rules. The membership model gives Costco stronger legal standing for these checks compared to traditional retailers.
It’s not a legal requirement for you to show your receipt, but it is a Costco policy. Refusing to comply could result in membership revocation, though Costco typically handles such situations diplomatically.
Remarkably Low Theft Prevention Success
Despite what you might think, hardly any criminals are caught at the door. The receipt checking process isn’t designed as a primary theft prevention strategy, though it does serve as a deterrent. Most actual theft incidents at Costco happen through other means entirely, such as the notable 2018 case where thieves at a Seattle Costco were busted with armloads of laptops after they barged out of the back entrance.
The effectiveness of receipt checking as anti-theft measures comes more from its psychological impact than actual catches. The knowledge that receipts will be checked deters some potential shoplifters, but the real criminals typically find other ways around the system.
What Employees Actually Look For
Receipt checkers aren’t conducting thorough investigations of your cart contents. According to former employees, they specifically look for: a code on the top and bottom of the receipt that changes daily, the item count on the bottom of the receipt to make sure there were no under or over charges, high-end items such as jewelry, stamps, electronics, or items over $300, which need supervisors’ initials on them, and large items like packages of tissues and bottled water, which have various signifiers on the receipt.
Here’s the secret: Costco employees aren’t looking too closely at your receipt vs. what’s in your cart. The slash is what helps deter future theft: You can’t reuse a marked receipt to steal a cartload of stuff on your next trip! That highlighter mark serves as a simple but effective security measure.
Costco’s Impressive Shrinkage Statistics
The warehouse giant’s comprehensive approach to loss prevention yields remarkable results. Costco’s shrinkage represents just 0.11% to 0.12% of sales. In comparison, the retail industry average is in the 1%-2% range. According to the National Retail Federation, the average shrinkage is 1.6%, almost 15 times higher than Costco.
These statistics demonstrate the effectiveness of Costco’s multi-layered security approach, which includes membership verification, receipt checking, and controlled entrances and exits. CFO Richard Galanti noted that even after bringing back self-checkout in 2019, inventory shrinkage hasn’t dramatically increased. In the past several years, our inventory shrink has increased by a couple of basis points, in part due to the rollout of self-checkout. Over the past year, it has increased by less than 1 basis point.
The Membership Model Advantage
One factor that may help to prevent theft – people are paying to go there. Costco’s Gold Star membership costs $60 per year while an Executive Membership goes for $120. This financial investment creates a natural barrier to theft attempts, as potential shoplifters must first pay for the privilege of entering the store.
The membership requirement also provides Costco with customer identification and accountability measures that traditional retailers lack. Every transaction is tied to a specific member, making it easier to track patterns and address issues when they arise.
Speed and Efficiency of the Process
Many customers wonder how employees can effectively check receipts in just a few seconds. Can a Costco employee really evaluate everything in a full cart in just a few seconds? The answer lies in their training and focus on specific indicators rather than comprehensive item-by-item verification.
One Costco-centric Reddit thread had employees sharing what they were looking for, and part of it is confirmation that the number of items in the cart is actually the number that’s on the receipt. One employee shared some eye-opening figures, and claimed their store kept track of how much merchandise was stopped at the door because it wasn’t paid for – and it was in the tens of thousands of dollars.
What Happens When No Checker Is Available
Sometimes you might find yourself at the exit with no employee in sight to check your receipt. In the event no receipt checker is available as you’re leaving, Costco customer service encourages you to approach the membership desk and ask for someone to check your receipt before you go. This policy ensures that the verification process remains consistent regardless of staffing situations.
The company takes this procedure seriously enough to have backup protocols in place, demonstrating how integral receipt checking is to their operational model. It’s not just a convenience measure but a core component of their loss prevention and customer service strategy.
Customer Reactions and Acceptance
Plenty of Costco customers have been vocal about disliking the receipt-checking practice and finding it an inconvenience at best. However, most members have come to accept it as part of the Costco experience. The practice has been in place for over four decades, creating familiarity and routine for regular shoppers.
Social media discussions reveal mixed feelings, with some customers expressing frustration while others defend the practice. Customer opinions paint a nuanced picture. Some users express irritation, likening the checks to unnecessary profiling, with one post from early 2025 decrying it as a “waste of time” amid self-scan implementations. Others defend it vigorously, pointing out that it deters abuse of Costco’s generous return policy.
